


Everything Happens At Night

by nexii



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: M/M, Paranormal AU, Paranormal Investigators
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-23
Updated: 2017-11-12
Packaged: 2018-09-26 11:11:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9893012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nexii/pseuds/nexii
Summary: Mickey leads a team of Paranormal Investigators.





	1. Ghosts

“How are the posters coming along?” Mickey asked as he threw his jacket on his desk and walked towards the coffee machine. It might have been just a cheap machine he got on sale, but it made coffee for free instead of that overpriced stuff at the shop on campus and that was all that mattered to Mickey. 

“I don’t think they need to be fancy. Just write ‘ghosts’ in impact, size 96. Hang them up all over campus. Guaranteed they’ll catch people’s attention. Look, I made a sample.” Daniel handed him a sheet of paper with exactly what he had just said on it. 

“This is your input? Our name isn’t even on it. There is no information here at all.” 

“I’ll put our number on it.” Daniel added. 

“Yeah, right after ‘Who you gonna call?’” Mickey rolled his eyes. 

“That’s brilliant!” Daniel chimed in reaching for a pen to add to the poster. 

“Jesus christ. Someone with a brain who won't get us sued, please contribute to the idea pool. The bar is real low.” Mickey huffed, crumpling up the paper before Daniel could write on it again and throwing it into the garbage bin. 

“I think he might have been onto something.” Karen said tapping her pen on her lips. 

“Oh, you're not with stupid are you?” 

“I mean in the simplicity. Well maybe not as simple but I don’t think we need to do anything fancy. Enough people will be interested in the words ‘Paranormal Investigators’ to read the rest of the poster. Where we will include our work number, email, and the fact that we are looking for new members.” Karen leaned back in her chair and put her feet up on the desk. 

“That’s why she gets a desk.” Mickey affirmed as he went back to the task of getting himself a cup of coffee. Karen grinned at him while Daniel went back over to the table and started on the new idea. 

“Don’t forget you’re doing a presentation in the Hall in an hour.” Karen announced as she started to ruffle through the papers in one of her folders. 

“You two have a presentation in an hour. I have a meeting with Tony.” Mickey corrected without looking at her. He was now sat at his desk and busy searching through his emails. 

A lot of it was just junk mail, people asking for tours, a few people most likely just with old housing or plumbing issues requesting exorcisms on their houses. The usual for him. There was one though that caught his attention. An old house he remembered hearing rumors about growing up. The new owners appeared to be having a hard time and he was dying to get his equipment in that house. 

“Your meeting isn't until 5. You can do both. Just ten minutes.” Karen broke into his thoughts. She was now standing above his desk. “I don’t care what you’re doing. All this is yours. You have to talk to them about it.” 

“People don’t like me. That’s why you’re here.” Mickey admitted. Part of the reason he liked having Karen around so much was that she took the job of dealing with people and let him just do the work. 

“A couple words.” Karen tried. Mickey hated that he was thinking about, but he wanted to see this house and if he was going to do that he needed a favor from Karen. 

“I’ll be there, if you cancel your dinner plans and meet with this family.” Mickey bargained, a smirk on his face. He was already mid reply in this email to set up a meeting knowing full well that Karen was going to agree so he'd speak. He wanted a consultation tonight with the family so he could get into that house as soon as possible. If he was lucky, tomorrow. 

“Why must my dinner plans always suffer to get you to do things?” Karen sighed as she took out her phone. Most likely canceling her plans. 

“Would you rather ‘ghosts’ here be doing the interviewing?” Mickey asked making a motion towards Daniel who was spending a rather large amount of time just picking the font. Taking a chance and going with a different option rather than impact this time. 

“Have they called animal control already? I swear to god if it’s just a fucking squirrel again..” Karen trailed off when she looked at his laptop and saw the address. Her face slowly lit up as she turned to look at Mickey. “The house out on Melrose?” 

“Did you say Melrose?” Daniel chimed in, flipping around in his chair. “That’s like a real haunted house. They want us there?” 

“You won’t be there if you don’t get those posters finished.” Mickey threatened as he grabbed his cup of coffee and started for the door. He had equipment in his car he needed to test for tomorrow if they were going to do this. 

“If you’re not in the Hall in a hour, Mickey, I’m smashing your laptop.” Karen called out after him. Instead of replying Mickey just flipped her off. 

 

 

 

*******************************************************************************

 

 

“Starting out you can expect to make annually about $27,000.” Karen pointed at a chart with a bunch of numbers on it as Mickey reluctantly walked in. He didn’t want to be there. Especially when he saw that for once they had a decent turn out. At least half the seats were filled this time. Mickey moved to stand against the wall beside a redhead, watching as Daniel flipped to another chart for her. They made a good team for presentations. He wasn’t sure why he was even needed. All he was going to do was fumble over his words and make a fool out of himself up there. 

“Do you believe in this stuff?” The redhead whispered to him, gesturing to the stage. Mickey raised his eyebrows, unsure of when he started giving off an approachable vibe. 

“Do you?” Mickey shot back. If the boy stayed he would know Mickey’s standpoint right away. 

“I guess it depends. It’s either ghosts or you’re crazy, right?” The boy replied. 

“But what do you believe? I guess you’re here.” Mickey pointed out. 

“I don’t think I’m crazy.” He smirked. It was at that moment Mickey locked eyes with Karen and he knew his time of fading into the back was over.

“I’d like to ask our boss up here now to say a few words.” Karen motioned for him to come up. 

“Then you’ve come to the right place.” Mickey said simply as he backed away. He turned around and started for the front, feeling his nerves starting to get to him. As he was standing beside Karen, all eyes on him, he could feel his hands start to get clammy and his voice get caught in his throat. 

“You can do this.” Karen whispered to him as she patted his shoulder for reassurance. 

“My name is Mickey. I am the head of the main group of Paranormal Investigators here in Chicago. Karen here has probably told you everything there is to want to know about us. But she probably hasn’t told you the truth. The truth of this job is that it really isn’t as paranormal as the job makes you think. A lot of our calls are squirrels, old buildings, plumbings issues, the wind. If you’re not patient this job isn’t for you.” Mickey looked out to the crowd and he saw the redhead still standing there, arms crossed and staring straight at him. He took a deep breath. 

“On the other side of that some of our jobs are real, and you need to be prepared for that. If you are easily spooked, it’s time for you to walk out that door because I’m not here to help you change your underwear while Karen gets to have all the fun. If you can’t keep your shit-stuff together, this is not for you. Now if you have questions, ask Daniel because he might as well be getting paid to do something besides flip pages. Now I’ve got a meeting.” Mickey finished and walked off as fast as he could, hoping to reach the door before someone stopped him. Before Karen stopped him. 

“Hey!” An arm tapped him and Mickey let out a loud sigh. 

“Look, I said I’d speak, I didn’t say I’d speak long.” Mickey said defensively as he turned but it wasn’t Karen. It was the redhead. 

“Sorry, I’m not-” He trailed off. “I’m Ian. I, uh, didn’t know you ran this.” 

“Most people don’t even know it exists so you’re a step ahead of them.” Mickey pointed out. 

“It’s Mickey right? What do I do if I’m interested in joining?” Ian asked. 

“You’re kidding, right?” Mickey laughed. Ian did not look like the type of guy who wanted to carry around an EVP and track thermal readings. 

“Do you not want me to be?” Ian raised his eyebrow in question. He seemed kind of hurt by the idea of Mickey not wanting him around even though they had just met. 

Looking over him again, Mickey realized that maybe he should change his mind. It wasn't as if people were busting down their door to join. Hell, they couldn't even manage to fill a room for a presentation. If Ian was seriously interested in joining, he should probably let him. Not to mention if Karen found out he was chasing people away just because they didn't look suited for the job he wouldn't live long enough to check out the Melrose house tomorrow. 

“There’s a poster right here.” Mickey tapped the wall behind him, slightly surprised Daniel managed to get them up in time. ”All the infos on there.” 

“Right.” Ian nodded. 

“Anyway, gotta go. Meeting.” Mickey motioned towards the door as he started to walk away. He knew if he didn’t leave now he’d be late. He was always running late now a days. 

“I guess I might be seeing you around.” Ian called out after him. Mickey waved his arm in acknowledgement as he walked out the door.


	2. You're Hired

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, this is back? I was insanely busy this year but I finally have time for this again. This update is really short but that's only because I wanted to post this as soon as possible. The next chapter will most likely be up in the next couple days, and should be longer. I hope there are still people interested in this story after all this time. Also, I'm sorry if there are any mistakes. The person who used to edit for me is no longer in my life and I reread this so many times I'm sure I stopped seeing the problems.

Mickey entered the office with a cup of cheap coffee and a tired look the next morning. He spent half the night at a meeting with Tony and the other half testing out his equipment for today. The moment his eyes landed on Karen his body started buzzing with excitement. 

“How did it go last night?” Mickey asked taking a seat at his desk. Opening his laptop, he went through his normal routine of exchanging news while looking through emails. 

“They’re weird.” Karen replied, twisting her chair to face him. Mickey looked up to give her his full attention. 

“You’ve got to be weird to want to live in that house.” Mickey affirmed. Karen scooted her chair closer to him. 

“I know but I mean, they weren’t just living in a haunted house weird. They were hiding something from me. I don’t know what, but I can tell and I don’t know if that’s gonna end up being a good thing for us.” Karen explained, clicking her pen. 

“We don’t have to go to this house if you don’t want to.” Mickey reassured her. People normally found his responses and overall demeanor offensive which is why Karen usually met with possible clients alone first. There was no ones opinion he trusted more when it came to reading people. If she thought something was off, then he believed her. Regardless of how excited he was to finally get his equipment in that house, if she didn't want to go, he wouldn't. 

“No, this is our chance to finally see what lurks in the Melrose house. We are not squandering this opportunity. I just think we should be on our guard.” Karen said turning back to her computer, meaning the conversation was over. Mickey nodded and went back to his work and coffee. 

 

 

*******************************************************************************

 

“Mickey, the new guys are here.” Daniel yelled from the center table, his attention barely leaving the cameras he had scattered across it. Mickey looked up to see two boys standing in front of Daniel. A brunette, and a redhead. Ian. 

“Hey, Red. You really did join, hey?” Mickey greeted. He looked over at the brunette and just gave him a nod. 

“Matt.” He introduced himself. 

“Right.” Mickey started walking towards his desk, clearing his throat impatiently when he noticed they weren't behind him. He grabbed the papers on the side of his desk and handed a couple to both of them when they were in front of him. “I need you guys to fill out and sign these.” 

“What are these? Waivers?” Matt questioned, flipping through the sheets. 

“You fill out papers when you get a job don’t you?” Mickey snapped back. “Look this is all formalities. I don’t want to end up jail if some Anneliese Michel shit goes down. You agreed to this job so just agree on the goddamn forms.” 

Karen skipped into the room with an overpriced coffee and muffin, nudging Daniel as she walked by. 

“Look at these little newbies.” She grinned around her muffin.”We’re finally hiring some cute guys.” 

Matt moved uncomfortably in his chair, trying to keep his attention on filling out the paperwork. Ian however was wearing a grin as he watched her sit on her desk, crossing her legs. Mickey chose to ignore the fact that the imagine of Ian grinning was still in his head even when he looked away. 

“Are you guys done yet? Jesus.” Mickey said impatiently. 

“Here.” Ian handed over his papers and looked over at Mickey expectantly. 

“Daniel!” Mickey called out, waving him over. Daniel reluctantly left his cameras and shuffled over to his desk. “This is Matt and Red. They’re yours.” 

"Sweet!" Daniel cheered, pumping his arm with excitement. 

"Why are they never mine?" Karen asked, pouting as she looked over at Mickey and then at Ian and Matt. 

"Because you're my right hand man-woman. I need you. Daniel is just fucking around with cameras over there." Mickey pointed out. 

"I'm getting them ready for Melrose." Daniel explained. 

"We haven't even been to Melrose yet. We don't know that we need those." 

"Of course we'll need them!" 

"Did you guys just say Melrose?" Matt interrupted. "Like the haunted house out on Melrose?" 

"No, the house on Canfield." Mickey snapped back. He could already tell he was going to have a hell of a time with Matt, but he needed him. His email said he was a genuis with technology and he needed someone he didn't have to teach how to hit the power button on a camera again. 

"Regardless, you two can't come." Karen informed them as she hopped off the desk. Flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder she flashed them a smile before walking to her seat. Ian's head shot up to Mickey, looking for confirmation. 

"She's right." Mickey verified. "You'll be here training with Daniel." 

"What?" Daniel spat out his coffee, whipping around to face Mickey. 

"You heard the man." Karen grinned wickedly at Daniel. She rummaged around her desk until she found a sheet of a paper and crumpled it up, throwing it at his head. 

"She's throwing things at me again, Mickey!" Daniel whined causing Mickey to let out a loud sigh. 

"How old are you both?" Mickey huffed, done with the situation already. They were paranormal investigators, not five year olds. His brothers acted more mature than this, and they got more food on everyone around them than in their mouths when they ate. 

Mickey turned around in time to catch Karen stick her tongue out at Daniel out of the corner in his eye and he wondered what sort of impression they were giving. Probably not a professional one. Not that that's what people thought when they looked at Mickey's knuckle tattoos and heard him speak to begin with. Why people even joined them, he'd never know. 

"Look Daniel, all you have to do is teach them the equipment, bring them to meet Tony, and in a couple days I'll have a house for you." Mickey promised deciding to flip through Ian's paper, ignoring Daniels disappointed face. 

Ian Gallagher, 24, majoring in classical studies. Someone with knowledge of Latin could really come in handy. Hiring him couldn't end up being the worst thing. 

"Here." Matt sheepishly handed over his papers, slumping his shoulders when Mickey put them down without a second glance. Mickey twisted his arm and checked his wrist for the time. 

"We're going to be late." Mickey announced taking the last gulp of his coffee. 

"I can't believe you're leaving me here with them." Daniel mumbled sadly walking back over to the cameras. Ian just laughed in the background as he slowly stood up and straightened his shirt. 

"Come on Matt. Let's learn these cameras." Ian smiled cheerfully as he made his way over to the table. Normally that sort of energy would annoy Mickey but for some reason he didn't mind it on Ian. 

"I already know cameras." Matt grumbled, clearly not as comfortable as Ian in this situation. That didn't concern Mickey though as long as he did a good job. He would learn to deal with their personalities in time. Or he would quit. Which didn't matter to him. 

"Do you know EVPs? EMFs? Geophone motion detectors or infrared thermometers? Just because you can work a normal camera doesn't mean you get to walk over with that attitude." Daniel scolded Matt, slapping his hands on the chair in front of him. The power clearly already getting to his head. 

"Looks like you just unlocked sassy Daniel." Karen teased running her hands up and down his arms. "I hope you unlock funny Daniel next. I've been waiting months to see that." 

"You're so funny. God, I wish I was as funny as Karen." Daniel joked in a dry tone. Mickey ran his hands down his face, unable to stand what he was hearing. If he wanted to stand around and listen to children bicker he would have decided to be a teacher instead of the laughing stock of all social functions. 

"There's going to be more ghosts to look into if you guys don't shut up." Mickey threatened. He was ready to leave Karen behind if it meant leaving the room now. 

"Is now a bad time to ask what EVP, and EMF stand for?" Ian cut in. Instead of looking at Daniel who was handling all the equipment, his eyes were glued to Mickey. He debated answering the question, only because it was Ian who asked and he wasn't on his nerves yet but he was afraid it would cause everyone to start talking again. 

"That's a question for you." Mickey pointed at Daniel before grabbing onto Karen's arm and dragging her out of the room. They were definitely late now. Not that that was anything new for him.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know if there is going to be any interest in this, but if there is let me know.


End file.
